CT - 32-year-old man held captive by stepmother Kimberly Sullivan since age 11, weighs 68 lbs, sets fire to home to escape, 17 Feb 2025

[detective.moon]

IMO:
The victorious victim was caught between a rock and hard place with bio mother and step-mother.

Both sisters live near by and one lived in Waterbury house for a while.

When I had read what KS said here I wasn't sure if she was referring to how the firefighter was making her/dog move away from the burning house or if she was referring to VV being put in an ambulance.
KS obviously knew her long-running sadistic, evil gig was up.

“My dog is shaking,” she said before shouting at the firefighter carrying her stepson, “what are you doing?”

Exclusive | Biological mom of Connecticut house of horrors victim refuses to explain why she didn’t save her son from decades of torture

“We are all trying to come to grips with this horror that my son had to endure,” the 52-year-old resident of Meriden, Connecticut, told The Post Saturday, adding that “…prop…

nypost.com

i hadn’t realised he still had a mom too

it seems so odd that no one could save him it’s heartbreaking. i think i’ll try not to judge bio mom and the half sisters too harshly until we know more, but i’m not sure how their lack of action could really be explained

 

[Izzylizzy]

IMO:
Accused abusers and convicted abusers, especially those like KS and her dead husband, who for years tortured and abused a child/adult shows that they're targeted sadists who get pleasure denying their victim the basics in life and get gratification from seeing the horrific inhumane results their abuse resulted in.
I truly believe that sadism is the foundation and they go from there.

 

[Izzylizzy]

i hadn’t realised he still had a mom too

it seems so odd that no one could save him it’s heartbreaking. i think i’ll try not to judge bio mom and the half sisters too harshly until we know more, but i’m not sure how their lack of action could really be explained

IIRC:
In the presser LE said that they hadn't yet spoken to sisters and others.
Also the victim told investigators that he hasn't seen his bio mother since 2-3 yrs old?

IMO:
Imagine if a sister is a mandated reporter?
I'm not up on mandated reporter laws so I don't know, for example, if a school employee is mandated to report abuse just for students or the mandate carries over to all situations?

 

[Izzylizzy]

It opened for me but it may have a paywall and one peak is all ya get?

'Who is Kimberly Sullivan? Hardships, secrecy filled CT home where man held captive, records show'​

"Court records, however, paint a picture of financial hardship. The couple filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy separately within a five-year span, citing insurmountable debt from credit card obligations to major lenders, including Capital One, Chase, Citibank and Sears. The family’s financial strain also included a first and second mortgage on their home, the documents show.
Police said Kregg Sullivan died last year. Despite Kregg Sullivan’s long-standing job as a shipper at a local company, GEM Manufacturing, the couple struggled to keep up with their expenses. Court documents indicate that Kimberly Sullivan had also filed for bankruptcy separately in an earlier case.
At her arraignment on Wednesday, the bail commissioner reported her only current income was from welfare and her only work experience was in retail."

https://www.ctinsider.com/waterbury/article/kimberly-sullivan-waterbury-ct-stepson-captive-20221808.php

 

[Izzylizzy]

I'm real curious about KS's homeowner's fire insurance.

IMO:
If the company refuses to pay-out for the fire in KS's house no matter how a lawyer for KS could try and spin it the fire was arson.
We know it was necessary arson but it's still arson.
I have no problem hoping that KS is stuck with an insurance company that refuses her claim.

 

[tlcya]

“This is weighing heavily on [Kimberly],” Kaloidis told The Post.
Conn. woman accused of torturing stepson in house of horrors blames late hubby — while lawyer says victim ‘could have just walked away’

[I'd love to put all my weight on this woman, JS]

Biological mom of Connecticut house of horrors victim refuses to explain why she didn’t save her son from decades of torture

[SHE was too traumatized to explain WTH she's been for 30 years. okey dokey ]

 

[tlcya]

Her attorney Ioannis A. Kaloidis tells Daily Mail that it was her late husband, the boy's father Kregg, who made the 'decisions' about his life.

She insists she encouraged better personal hygiene but 'couldn't force' him to wash, and says she was 'aware' of his weight - a startling 68lbs - but wasn't responsible for it.

Kregg Sullivan died in January last year.

Obituaries refer to him being a beloved father of three children, but no record of the son exists in any official database.
'House of horrors' stepmom makes more shocking claims about son

wish they'd linked the obituary because I've been looking for it. Found his brother K's the other day but not Kregg's. All the boys in the family were apparently named K names.
---------------------------
“Ultimately it was the father which dictated the manner in which his son was raised and my client was only carrying out his orders,” Kaloidis said.
[snip]
Sullivan is due back in court on March 26
'He Was in Control': Father of Man Claiming Stepmom Held Him Captive Made Decisions About His Son's Care, Claims Her Lawyer

this defense isn't going to fly unless the defense wants to explain how that control was exercised and enforced from the grave.

 

[MrsWatson]

What a load of crap.

Dad's dead, and if Ms. Kimberly was so very concerned when he was alive, why didn't she get help for the son? Was she also locked in the house?

 

[tlcya]

Though the victim was no longer in school, financial records show the household continued reporting $450 in monthly tuition payments —presumably for the couple’s two daughters — along with $180 per month spent on cigarettes and $80 allocated to their pets, which included a dog, cats and a ferret.
https://www.ctinsider.com/waterbury...van-waterbury-ct-stepson-captive-20221808.php

 

[Gemmie]

What a load of crap.

Dad's dead, and if Ms. Kimberly was so very concerned when he was alive, why didn't she get help for the son? Was she also locked in the house?

A bigger question in my mind is... and why WAY past adulthood?? We all know that some "parents" do this to their children, but to a 32 yo man?? Let him go! Let him meet someone and have a relationship. Let him live in peace. Sheesh.

And I hope like heck he wasn't kept around locked up just to do chores a couple of times a day. smh

 

[DS2021]

Her attorney Ioannis A. Kaloidis tells Daily Mail that it was her late husband, the boy's father Kregg, who made the 'decisions' about his life.

She insists she encouraged better personal hygiene but 'couldn't force' him to wash, and says she was 'aware' of his weight - a startling 68lbs - but wasn't responsible for it.

Kregg Sullivan died in January last year.

Obituaries refer to him being a beloved father of three children, but no record of the son exists in any official database.
'House of horrors' stepmom makes more shocking claims about son

wish they'd linked the obituary because I've been looking for it. Found his brother K's the other day but not Kregg's. All the boys in the family were apparently named K names.
---------------------------
“Ultimately it was the father which dictated the manner in which his son was raised and my client was only carrying out his orders,” Kaloidis said.
[snip]
Sullivan is due back in court on March 26
'He Was in Control': Father of Man Claiming Stepmom Held Him Captive Made Decisions About His Son's Care, Claims Her Lawyer

this defense isn't going to fly unless the defense wants to explain how that control was exercised and enforced from the grave.

So it sounds like they've realized that they can't claim the abuse never happened, so now they are trying to place the blame solely on his deceased father?

 

[tlcya]

So it sounds like they've realized that they can't claim the abuse never happened, so now they are trying to place the blame solely on his deceased father?

seems a mixed dual prong tactic.

a) he could have bathed, eaten and left at any time because he wasn't locked in; and
b) his dead father made all decisions about his schooling and care.

I can't wait to see this [self edit] go down.

 

[SluethinAway]

Man held captive by stepmother for more than 20 years, Waterbury police say

A woman faces kidnapping and cruelty to persons charges for holding her stepson captive for more than 20 years, according to Waterbury police.

www.wfsb.com

He also said that only his stepmother, his now deceased father, two half sisters, and deceased grandmother knew of his situation.

They knew?! Oh it just keeps getting worse.

 

[sds71]

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[tlcya]

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fond of her filters and herself MOO

 

[keek]

fond of her filters and herself MOO

Reading what is there, wonder how her commenters think of her now. DISGUSTED at the ones of OUTSIDE enjoyment, peace, while the victim was in fear in that house locked in and starving for ONE thing.

 

[tlcya]

Reading what is there, wonder how her commenters think of her now. DISGUSTED at the ones of OUTSIDE enjoyment, peace, while the victim was in fear in that house locked in and starving for ONE thing.

yes, the outdoor nature tranquil posts rubbed me all kinds of wrong now that we know what we know.

 

[keek]

What was her end game? Did she assume this would keep up till he died, yes. How else could she keep it her sick secret from the world around her. She would have her daughters help roll him up in a large rug, dispose. Never existed. She hung around the front of the house till the fireman told her to move along away. Controlling she thought, the situation still with him. No more facebook filter selfies for her, no more shopping excursions and outdoor days hopefully asap. The daughters did not live there, all it would take is come with me officer, firefighter, ANYONE, who WOULD DO something, while mother not home. Unlock his door, show the world, get him help.. they did NOT do that. They lived outside, the one had a b.f., did HE know? Doubt it.

 

[tlcya]

What was her end game? Did she assume this would keep up till he died, yes. How else could she keep it her sick secret from the world around her. She would have her daughters help roll him up in a large rug, dispose. Never existed. She hung around the front of the house till the fireman told her to move along away. Controlling she thought, the situation still with him. No more facebook filter selfies for her, no more shopping excursions and outdoor days hopefully asap. The daughters did not live there, all it would take is come with me officer, firefighter, ANYONE, who WOULD DO something, while mother not home. Unlock his door, show the world, get him help.. they did NOT do that. They lived outside, the one had a b.f., did HE know? Doubt it.

yes, the more I thought about this case over the weekend I suspect you are right. Once the abuse, captivity and neglect had reached the point of the young man's adulthood, Kimberly had essentially created a messy trap for herself.

He wasn't really educated beyond 4th or 5th grade, except what he managed to do himself with a dictionary and stray books he was allowed. So he couldn't just be shoved out the door onto the street once he reached 18 for fear it would lead back to her and her crimes against him for all these years.

Had he not devised his own desperate means of escape he likely would have eventually expired in that cramped little room and then been carried out under cover of darkness to be disposed of somewhere.

 

[sds71]

The biological mother of a man who was supposedly held captive by his stepmother in Waterbury for about 20 years released a statement.

The mother did not want to be identified.

However, The New York Post identified her as a 52-year-old woman from Meriden.

She said in a statement she gave up custody of her son when he was 6-months-old.


“Thirty two years ago, due to personal reasons, and for the full benefit of my son, I made the gut wrenching decision to give full custody to my ex-husband. This was the most painful, emotional decision any mother can make, but I thought he would have a better life. In retrospect, this did not come to pass. For the last 30 years my family and I have searched for him to reconnect only to be turned away and shut out.

The last few days have been so shocking, disturbing and disgusting to seem true. I hope and pray we can all begin to heal and helping my son to lead a full happy loving life. I know deep in my heart I have always been there for him and always will. Please grant us the time, peace and respect as we try to cope with this tragic situation.”

Victim's mother

Biological mother of Waterbury captivity victim provides statement

The biological mother of a man who was supposedly held captive by his stepmother in Waterbury for about 20 years released a statement.

www.wfsb.com